COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge
As people in the world await their chance to be eligible to receive one of the various COVID-19 vaccines, an Overlake eighth grader is already dreaming up ways to speed up the process. Mahi M. (’25) is a finalist in a youth competition designed to create better ways to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
It’s a competition, Middle School Librarian, Rebecca Moore, thought Mahi should participate in. “Earlier in her MS career she had asked me about writing competitions, and I directed her to the page on the library website that covers those,” explains Moore. “She entered some, kept me apprised of her progress, and was so excited when a poem of hers got published. From that, I knew she was someone who would take advantage of opportunities offered her.”
“I decided to participate because we’re in a global pandemic and while vaccines have been made, the distribution system has not been efficient. We need ideas urgently to get the public vaccinated,” says Mahi. “Once I heard about this competition, I knew that I could bring forward an idea that would allow the public to know exactly where to go and when to go to get the vaccine right away.”
Mahi’s idea is making the most of an information system that already exists, the AMBER Alert notification system. “Utilizing the already successful and national infrastructure of AMBER Alerts, clinics or mass vaccination sites will send out an alert within a geographic distance (such as a 10-mile radius) letting the public know that a specific location will have vaccines between set hours. Additionally, there will be a response feature where the recipients will have options to confirm if they will go to the site (such as messaging back or going online to reserve their spot) and an estimate of what their arrival time will be. This way those who are eligible will know when to come in to receive their vaccine and there will not be a stampede,” explains Mahi.
She’s also thought of what to do in the case that there’s extra vaccine doses available but on the verge of being expired. “If the site has more vaccines left, the distance of the AMBER Alert broadcast range will be expanded (such as a 10-20-mile radius) so the alerts will reach more people.”
Here’s a video Mahi submitted as part of the competition explaining her idea.
On March 18, Mahi will be presenting her idea in a virtual meeting with Secretary Bob McDonald, who is a member of the Biden Administration Transition Team. Good luck Mahi!
And for other students wanting to take on a writing competition- check out the library's many curated opportunities here.